Free Valentine (The Dragon Kings Book 3) by Kimberly Loth

his red nose. “She was the only one who every called me that.”
    “Wait, you’re Teddy?” Val asked. His thoughts raced, trying to put Theo together with Teddy.
    Theo nodded.
    “You crushed her.” Val stood, his chair crashing to floor behind him, rage building in his chest. This was the man who broke her heart. Theo held up his hands.
    “Please don’t hit me. I’m a little over that by now.”
    Val looked down, both confused by his anger and his desire to hit Theo. Because in spite of Theo asking him not to hit him, Val was seriously considering it.
    Aspen giggled. “Hazel slapped him, and then Ella punched him in the nose. Go ahead Val punch him in the gut.”
    Theo moved around the table and sat down. “You know why I had to leave her, right?”
    Aspen shook her head. Val sank into his chair again, his rage simmering just underneath his skin, but he wanted to hear this story probably as much Aspen did.
    “Because I almost sealed myself to her. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I left before I did anything stupid. I’m sure she was hurt, but I had no other choice.”
    Aspen crossed her arms and glared at him. “Well, because of you, she won’t commit to anyone. She usually dates two or three people at once to avoid getting too attached. You should probably leave town. We want to make it easy for Val to win her over.”
    Val listened intently. He wanted Theo to leave, but he also wanted to know how to win over Hazel. Theo did it once, so maybe he could tell him what he knew.
    Sid leaned forward. “We need someone to go spy on the arctic dragons. You’re good friends with Candide. Maybe you could spend a few weeks up there and see what’s going on.”
    Theo shrugged and fingered his dreads. “Whatever will help us. Sure. My human skin is getting old anyway. It will be nice to just be a dragon for a while.”
    “Send regular reports via the eagles. Even if the intel seems insignificant, it could be important.”
    Theo stood and gave a little bow. “Of course, I still need to finish a job around here, but I’ll leave in a couple of days. Good luck, Val.”
    Val nodded to him. Sid’s eyes followed Theo as he left the room.
    Aspen laid her hand over his. “You okay?”
    Sid sighed. “He’s acting weird.”
    Aspen frowned. “I think it’s still because he’s not used to you being king. We don’t have time to worry about that though. We need to search for Rowan.”
    “We should drop Val off first. You ready to go see your dad?” Sid asked.
    He’d been looking forward to meeting his dad for a long time, but he was nervous. No one told him why his dad was banished, and he was scared to find out. What if he didn’t like his father? The dragons that raised him were good, warm, and friendly. But he knew he didn’t really belong. They made sure he always had enough to eat and trained him in the ways of the fire dragons, but he always felt like he was missing out on something. He supposed that was why he spent so much time watching the humans. Now he was about to meet his real father.
    Sid nudged him. “Let’s go. We’ll need to change.”
    They exited out of the back door and into the middle of the yard. Aspen stood a little ways from them, shivering in spite of a thick coat and hat. They changed into their dragon forms, and Aspen gasped.
    “Two black dragons. Amazing,” she said and laid her hand on both of their flanks.
    We just need to find the third, Sid said.
    Any ideas where he might be? Val was curious about who this third dragon could be. He wouldn’t feel so confused and alone in this with a brother to share it with.
    No. I’ve got eagles and a handful of royal dragons all over the nation searching for him. It makes it harder that we can’t reveal what we’re looking for, but I think the secrecy is important. Though I’m sure rumors have already started. He could be anywhere. Obviously, we think he’s a sea dragon, but they are hard to find since they spend so much